Great ideas!

emagineerNovember 28, 2009

Oceanna has posted more photos in the Decorating Forum "Galary". Most of the Cottage thread shows smaller rooms and is a delight. The Fireplace thread and kitchens is fun too. They are all fun. Take a trip over there, I was really inspired. Too many to point out my favorites, but suspect my projects are going to be enhanced.

Because I had a hard time finding the forum. DOH on me. I am posting the link. WOW Looks like some great stuff. Thanks emagineer!!! Looks to be a fun read and good ideas. I am in such a rut with the same old same old ideas. Our place needs shaking up. My DH will just roll his eyes. As long as I do not move his recliner I am safe. Hehehehehe

OH I have been drooling over these pictures in the link. Thanks so much. I shared it with another cottage decor friend too and she liked it. There is one picture of a green quilted looking bedspread with roses on it. I WANT that spread!!! WWWAAAHHHH

Gee Chris, Is that the one with an iron bed at an angle and the wall is brick? A green painted closet next to it and large window on the other side? If it is, I have been looking for a year to recreate the look. I think the green is more of a teal. Great taste gal....

It is the only one I saw that had teal in it. This is close to what we have now only our spread is white. No nice tall chest. I have one of those in my sewing room. I love this look too only the rocks are a pain to clean. Ask me how I know. Hehehe Because I have been there done that.

This is the bedding I flipped over.

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I like the soft color and I could use the same green paint I used in our kitchen for the room and I am so NOT anxious to start another painting project. I can sew , and enjoy doing so, and I think I am going to try to re\-create this if I can not find the set anywhere.In my spare time. Yah right. After project \# 13454678 on my list.

I am also swooning over this kitchen look. I have a little couch like this and also a library table. But I use that table in my sewing room. Hummmmmmm

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Prairie-gal. I am NOT a good duster either. I try to go for the minimalist cottage look. As much as possible is behind glass. I can see it and enjoy it and I do not dust inside my cabinets very often. In fact that china cabinet only got dusted inside because I had to move it to paint and we have been here a year. EEEEKKKK I be so bad. It really was not all that bad inside.

I just finished doing the water billing for the city and debating if I should type up my minutes or work on my mosaic. Hummmmmmmmm Which one do you think is going to win out? OR it is 52 degrees out there maybe go put up the Christmas lights at City Hall.

Wow Chris, Yes that is the one. I cannot forget it. Knew the minute you mentioned it that we were seeing the same thing. Out of all the photos, how interesting we met together on this.

A one year search for bedding like that has turned up nothing. You would think this could be easy, but tis' not. I even went to the fabric sites to find something similar to make one.

Did paint my furniture the same color and then distressed. Came out really well. Last month I came across an almost free old mantel surround which is going on one wall. It is a tiny thing, very unique. Consider it artwork on the wall.

Am not a cottage chic gal either. But these photos show so much on furniture layout for smaller rooms. And color possibilities, little details not thought of. My home is more rustic, lace and ruffles have never been in my life. But I see that bedroom more rustic, probably due to the stone wall. No stone walls here though.

Chris,
We are almost close. I bought this one and love the aged look. It isn't as bright as they show and tea dyed. I'm adding a green print for a dust ruffle (maybe, buy kings for my queen and they drop enough not to fuss with more)and other print pillows. Not into pink and thankfully enough green to take over the blue too.

The link isn't where I bought this. Not sure now. But between ebay and this one I ended up paying 30% less with coupon and free shipping. Ebay seems to have really gotten high, price wise, which is fine with me as they tend to be a pain to deal with and shipping always too much.

Also, I went to some major stores and looked at possibilites before buying online. This quilt was at Macy's along with a brighter color option which they and PB sell. Price wise I'd say half the cost on the internet and came with accessories.

Not being shabby chic, the quilt does work for me. It is my summer one, another hits the bed for winter.

OH WOW That is so pretty!! REally better than the inspiration picture I think. Makes me want to go through my fabric stash and see what I might have on hand to make something like this up. I do not think I can do hand quilting any more. I can use the machine. LOL Just told Joe we need to make another trip to town!!!:^( Can not wait to shop that site some more. thanks!!!

Also I was considering buying or making the longer size. WE have full size and I have been looking at queens for the spreads. I still will need a skirt because out bed is so high on the frame.

Emagineer, that is a lovely quilt that you bought. Are you able to make it work with your existing curtains or are you going to replace them also? What color is your room?
Chris, that bedding set that you like comes from an ebay store. The name and phone number is in the bottom right hand corner. I typed it in the search engine and it brought up the store. I glanced over their stock, but it is a large site and my eyes started to cross, lol.
Loretta

Thanks for liking my quilt. It was and is much nicer than expected and as close as I have ever come to cottage style.

My room is a cream with white painted trim/doors. Small house, haven't been brave enough to paint colors other than the bath and kitchen. Kitchen is a brick red and love it. Any color would work in the bedroom, even with the furniture painted dark teal/green.

I have cream cotton curtains which fit inside the bottom 1/2 of the windows via two tension rods at the top and bottom. The upper part of the window is not covered. Like to see the stars at night when going to sleep.

The quilt would actually be very easy to make. It is strips of different patterns sewn together with 1" raw edges on the outside of each strip. I did have to iron each one as they are also a tad of ruffle. Trimmed in a bias tape fashion of matching print. Fairly simple in pattern and construction. Pure cotton, will be interesting when washed. You could hand quilt, this one is a machine design.

One of the problems with premade quilts is the darn thread they use. Usually polyester or nylon. Does nothing for the look and causes the quilt to bunch up terribly when washed. The one I bought is cotton thread, thankfully.

Wow, I bet that teal and cream is a great combo! I can see how you would be able to go in a lot of different directions with that color pallette. With the WT covering only half the window, it seems like you have a light and airy space.
I wanted to paint a red accent wall in my LR (even found the perfect red), but I didn't have the nerve. :(

When my Mom died (36 yrs ago), I got all of her things which included a handmade quilt that my Granny made. Being younge and stupid, it never occurred to me that I should take care of it. At some point I replaced it with something 'more modern'. Oh, the foolishness of youth!

I have to share and totally off topic....just bought a Janome machine for making slipcovers and whatever delights me. My Bernina was 20 years old, consider it a friend. I still remember saving up for this and the hard work it gave for so many years. It broke last week and the part cannot be found...part is the most common to break, the thread uptake. If they could find the part it would be 400 to fix. Looking inside the mechanics, I cannot even consider trying to do it myself. And even if they did fix this, they told me the chances of it ever being the same are slim.

Cannot believe the prices of "old" machines. Looking up my old one, they are almost the same price as when new. And in bad shape compared to mine. Guess that is where they get those expensive repair parts.

So, I angst over buying a new machine for a week and decided there was no way I could be without one. Hard economic times or not, this buy is a given. I'm working on a corduroy slipcover for a chaise right now.

Interesting in looking at machines, there are so many for quilting now and the quilt blogs are incredible. I'm not up to making a quilt though, have done this before and hand pain wasn't worth it.

Indie, had a top part of a quilt in different modes of needing to be finished, from my mom too. And also no clue where it went. At one time I framed part of it. Am sure it was made from her old dresses. If you still have yours, perhaps folding part of it and hanging it somewhere to keep the memories.

Morning All. I was dinking around all day yesterday looking at quilts on line. Never did find another as nice as your emagineer. Now I have seen that one I am just hooked on it. Sigh. I did not get into my quilting fabric stash to see what I have yet. I know I do not have th eneeded long strips to make this quilt. There was a more patchy one I might be able to do. Then I think of the hand pain I also have and the frozen thumb. I am going to need an all machine made quilt. There is no way I can hold a needle to hand quilt. Darn it.

Our new mattress is now in Kansas on it's way here. Hoping it arrives soon. My aching back from a worn out mattress. When they go south on you it happens fast.

Loretta I am going to email that ebay seller and ask her if that quilt set it still available. There was also some quilts at Pennys I was very fond of.

This has been a fun thread.Spent a needed relaxing day internet shopping and not spending a cent. Heheheh So far.

Hi, I think that style is called 'rag' quilting (with the edges exposed). You might have good success if you searched for 'shabby+rag+quilt' or 'cottage+rag+quilt'

You might be able to find some kits, too. I've bought a few baby kits that have been really sweet. I think it's a bit cheaper than buying all the individual materials (at least for the small baby quilts). I don't think there's anything wrong with machine quilting .. :o) I have machine quilted many quilts and had no complaints so far (maybe they're just being polite lol)

emagineer, I love that quilt! Seems like everyone loves green with red roses these days. I wish we had had this discussion before I bought the stuff to make mine.

What kind of sewing machine did you get? I was looking, but since my old New Home still works and the beastmobile needs work, I decided to put it off a while. There are sooooo many machines out there, it would be hard to choose.

Marti...I bought a Janome 6600p. Most of the sewing I do is slipcovers, home decor and jean repair for the kids (adults). It took me forever to decide. After looking at so many I realized what was needed was a dual feed and high foot lift. This buy was more than planned, but kept going back to my old one and how much I angst over it too. The new machine is so popular they have blogs and forums on just this model. Tons of help out there if needed.

Machine is on it's way and can hardly wait, most likely Monday delivery. Would never have considered buying if my old sewing friend (Bernina) had said goodbye to me.

Prarie...Yes that is the quilt. The thing is though, I found it on another site for $100 including the pillows. Ebay is getting expensive. The one you showed can be bought on sale for the same price as ebay at Macy's or Dillards. We really have to dig through the net for deals. Ebay doesn't seem to be the best anymore unless you are looking for antiques or something no longer available in stores. Even sewing machine prices there were more. My old one is selling for $600 on ebay and they look like they have not been taken care of.

I am not really a quilt person, didn't know that was called a "rag quilt". Sure seems easy to make.

Chris, you wouldn't have to hand stitch. I don't even think you would have to stitch at all between the strips. Just run a seam stitch along the edge of the frayed ones to attach the fill and backing. Also, one full strip of the same pattern wouldn't be necessary either. Might be really interesting to connect different patterns together for a full strip.

Now I'm digging through the net for fabric. There sure are some deals if one knows what they are looking for. I don't need fabric, just being creative ahead of time.

Chris is right about the photo coming from the decorating forum. Oceanna posts these pics and is great about answering any questions. She may know where this photo came from and have info on the quilt resource.

The Decorating Forum Gallery is wonderful. I suggest looking at all of the threads there. We may be small, but there are plenty of ideas that fit.

I'm trying to figure out how to shoot pics of my interior. Nothing exciting, just my little house. Have a DSLR and the lenses available won't let me get a complete room. Will have to paste photos together to get the idea of what they look like. After the machine buy, there is no option for buying a lense to do other.

I am mulling over a plan in my brain. I love the white spread we have on the bed now. I just need more cover to make up for removing the electric blanket. We bought a mattress warmer so do not need the electric blanket. We only have one other blanket and I use it in the guest room. So we do need one more blanket or quilt.

My thought is to make a smaller quilt to cover up with but it does not have to be as large as to make it cover to the floor kind of thing. I think I could piece together some of the fabrics I have to make this work. Was also thinking of putting it together as you say all three layers at one time. I have done that before. Next time we go to town I will see about getting one of those thin bats or heavy flannel to use as the center. So I could make up my own smaller version of a quilt. The project would not feel so over whelming. I could work on it in smaller sections and slots of time.

Emagineer I am having sewing machine envy!!!! I have three machines. One grandmothers treadle. It works but I rarely use it. The other is an old 301 Singer the one above a Featherweight. And the other machine is also a singer and it is fine but not great. I would love to just have one really good machine. I would love to have the fancy stitches. Think I will start looking and saving up and just get rid of the others. Well I will keep grandmothers because I use it as a behind the couch table. And I painted it white. Some day plan to mosaic it as it is not a pretty cabinet like some of the older treadles are.

emagineer I love corduroy and it's such a durable fabric. I hope you post some pics of your chaise when it's done?

This is a pic of a corduroy cushion cover I made recently. DH bought a new office chair but said his butt was falling asleep after a while because the chair cushion wasnt thick enough so I pulled the cushion of the old chair and made a corduroy cover for it, (it's a terrible pic) but everytime I look at this chair I just want to sit it in, corduroy always looks so comfy.

I'm also planning some lighter corduroy slip covers for the chair and stool in my sewing nook but that project has gone way down the list now while Im trying to get some work done on the bedroom.

Trancegemini, Looks like a perfect match on your seat for the chair. I also love corduroy. And is that a mosaic you have done on your sewing cabinet? Squinting but can not quite make it out.

Heheheh Emagineer. "Like Minds" again. I did the same for a couch cover from Ebay. The I remade it to fit our couch removing the center area under the cushions and replacing it with some just heavy duty fabric and then I had extra matching fabric for pillows. I am such a dork sometimes.

Then I was able to use the same cover for the love seat and although I made the cushion covers work from the old couch deal it is not great and plan on doing something else for it soon. I am going to use a matlasse spread I have I will cut up and make real covers for the cushions.. Yah more white but I will make them so they come off easily for washing.

oh I cant wait to see it when it's done imagineer, no pressure though. I hope we get to see the new machine too!

yay, that's 3 corduroy lovers. Some people are a bit funny about corduroy, it's either in or out of fashion but how silly is that. It's a great fabric and I dare anyone to resist a nice corduroy couch or seat :)

idaho, yep that is one of my ahem, pretty mediocre mosaics
I've seen pics of yours and they are gorgeous but Im a bit scared of glass tiles so I've only used ceramic tiles or mirror tiles that someone has cut for me - Im a glass weeny

I have a couple that I did for the back patio which I like much better. I think I have pics somewhere so I'll have a look see but they are nothing compared to your gorgeous creations.

I hope you can find the pictures. Would love to see them. I do some china too but when I started using glass I was totally hooked. Rarely get cut. It is how you handle it. Lots of it I tumble. Except for the mirror.

The quilt like yours does not look the same colors as your pictures of it. It looks like it has more blue.

The sage quilt is great too.

Penny's site is being really slow for me. I am going to shut down and try booting this machine. Our bed is notified to be on the truck out for delivery this afternoon so we are getting closer to a night not spent in pain. Hope so!!!

I know this is not the fall weather thread but will report we have 5 degrees here this morning and they said it is -3 in Boise. EEEEKKKK We have internet friends that moved into that area from Calif last week and already hit with this weather. No more snow here yet. It went south. LOL

Hi Ladies. I know you must be excited about your new purchases!
Chris, a new mattress is such a big deal. About 6 years ago I bought a new bedroom set that included a mattress. It was the worst mattress ever. I tried to live with it, but ended up replacing it a couple of years later. Talk about a hard decision! It took a while to decide on a new mattress because I was afraid that when I got it home it would be uncomfortable. Well, I got lucky, because it's pretty good, but it is not as good as the one that went with my old bedroom set. Good luck, back pain is a ........

Emagineer, I had to look up the name of the new machines. I have not had a sewing machine for 25 years :( I used to sew, and I guess if I had girls I may have continued (boys are so hard to sew for). I'll bet you are excited! Congrats! Enjoy and give us a pic when you can.
Loretta

That green spread is so pretty too. Hummmmmmmmmm The comforters from JCP look widely spaced in the quilting.Wondering if the batting will stay put. That green one you linked to is gorgeous. Not as pretty as your quilt is. But really nice.

My decision right now it to bid on a matlasse spread on Ebay and if I get it I will take the matlasse spread that we are using now and is really heavy and use it as the top quilt. AFTER I dye it up pretty and trying to decide on olive or sage or see what I can get for color. So wish me luck on my bidding I only have about half an hour left.

Fedex has gone to the next town up so we are hoping he stops here on his way back. I saw him on the highway on my walk to the post office.

I was able to get the matlasse spread on Ebay so I am happy about that. I will use the spread we have now as a blanket as it is heavy enough and then I will make a smaller quilt topper for color.

The foam mattress arrived in a box and what a riot turning it loose. Hehehe a sight to behold as it unwinds itself. from the seal a meal type wrapper once turned loose. It grows from a few inches thick all rolled up and doubled over to a healthy 8 inches thick and the full size of a full size bed. I put the new sheets on and took a picture to share. The sheets are not nearly as dark as they look in this picture. And LOL I embroidered those pillow cases almost 30 years ago. I did not use them for years. So they are still in pretty good shape.

Trancegemini, The pictures she sent me are HUGE file size. I will see if I can re-size one to show. The auction picture is dark. Mainly it is an all over pattern with Medallion in the center. It is a large size so hoping it will be more like a bed spread.

The new mattress is GREAT!!. Neither of us woke in the night hurting in the back. I slept straight through 8 hours which has not happened in a very long time for me. The sheets are so soft.

Well I am going to beat this quilt idea to death. Heheheh Going back and fourth do I buy it made or make it myself?? Finally I came upon the solution. I am going to make it myself in a cheating sort of way. I am going to stitch the strips of fabric to a blanket base and use some bias binding I have miles of as the ruffles between the rows.Or some of them. I bought the blanket on sale and dug out my fabric stash of some vintage table cloths and fabric pieces and some new pieces I have had and I think I can combine them to pull it all together. Will use up great bunches of fabric I already have . I have the fabrics because I love them and they have made several fabric cuts in my purging.

Yes I took a picture but it is not laid out as it will be on the quilt and there is one more piece of lighter floral fabric I can use some of.

Also I think I might have confused some here because I actually have two rooms to deal with on quilts / spreads. Our master bedroom and the sewing room that doubles for guest room when we have company. As I see fit I can switch things around. But the sewing room is the one with the turquoise already in it.

I like all the tans and salmons on the left side. Great stash. Go ahead and try one really small square and see what happens.

My machine is here, sitting. It would still be in the box if my son's curiosity hadn't gone awry. Need a clear head to practice. The new machines are like not having a computer for years...then one shows up. Plan is to get the house clean, then sit down with nothing getting the way. Usually I'd just jump in, but my better sense says to read the instructions and not get into any problems. Every post read about this machine says it is easy...if you use the basic instructions first. It isn't computer interactive, didn't need that much of a machine. Although it does have a screen showing what stitch is being used and a bunch of other options chosen.

I'm almost afraid to touch it. Remember when learning computers and thinking they would break? This from a person who taught CAD and graphics for years in what seems now the dinosaur age.

Chris, those are very nice linens. The 2 pillow covers work great with the bedspread.
I have seen the mattresses that come in a box and wondered how confy they were. What brand did tou buy? Slept thru the night, huh? Now, with back pain that is a big deal. Congrats.

Emagineer, I hope this new machine serves you well over the years. What a nice way to spend the winter - getting to know everything about it.

This is such a pull for me. EEEEKKKKK I can always use the blanket I just bought for this and there still is the issue of having TWO beds to cover. Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Going to have to give this some serious thought.